In the past, walls have been constructed from individual units such as stones, rocks, blocks, or bricks which are assembled into the shape of a wall and held together with a bonding substance, such as mortar.
One problem with a wall of this type is that they are typically expensive and time consuming to construct. One alternative type of wall involves constructing a wall from hardenable construction material, such as poured concrete. Concrete walls of this type may be constructed so that the face of the wall is substantially smooth. A concrete wall may also be textured, thereby having the appearance of a wall formed from a plurality of individual assembled units, such as bricks. U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,822 (the '822 patent) illustrates one example of constructing a vertical wall from concrete creating the appearance of a wall formed from individual bricks. The '822 patent also illustrates a technique of providing a vertical concrete wall with a contoured surface by pouring the concrete wall between mold members that leave behind a contour on one or more of the lateral faces of the wall once the concrete hardens.
Additional techniques are known in the construction industry for creating concrete surfaces with textures and patterns. In the past, horizontal concrete surfaces such as roads, sidewalks, and floors, have been provided with textured surfaces, for example, by stamping a contour into the concrete before it hardens. Vertical concrete walls have also been provided with textured surfaces by adding a desired texture to a surface through veneering, wherein another material is adhered to the exterior surface of the concrete wall.
Several problems arise when trying to simulate natural rock of randomly sized and/or shaped units, intended to resemble a natural stone wall. When it is desired to have a natural looking concrete wall that appears to be formed from a plurality of non-linear and/or non-uniform units, the concrete wall may not appear natural if a repeating pattern is easily visible. Such a problem does not exist in forming a brick wall where all bricks have the same dimensions. The ability to easily and inexpensively create the appearance of a non-repeating pattern in a stone wall has been a significant concern in the construction industry.
Another problem arises in the ability to easily provide mold members that are usable in a variety of different applications to create a concrete wall having the contour of a wall formed from individual units. For example, in some construction applications, the base of the wall may not be at a uniform elevation if the base of the wall follows the contours of the ground with varying elevations. In other construction applications, walls of varying heights may be required. To provide contoured mold members having customized sizes to accommodate different construction applications often significantly increases construction costs.
It is clear that a long and unfilled need has existed in the art for a system for more easily and inexpensively forming walls with one or more contoured faces that resemble individual assembled building units. In addition, there is a need for a system for use in more easily and inexpensively creating concrete walls in a variety of construction applications with one or more faces that more naturally resemble walls formed from individual non-linear and/or non-uniform building units, such as stones. The present invention solves these and other problems associated with the prior art.